The invention relates in general to resilient supports and in particular to a new and useful bearing with a divided housing for stabilizers or the like in motor vehicles.
Similar design characteristics are known from German patent No. 27 37 898 in conjunction with elastic swivel joints having no division along an axial plane providing a swivel joint with inward radial resilience in the face of shock loads in that direction. The problem with using such bearings to support stabilizers in motor vehicles is such that the bearing point or points of the stabilizers have a smaller diameter than the forged ends of the stabilizers. Bearings pursuant to prior art are therefore not usable for this appliction, because the inner bushing consisting of an elastomer material cannot be streched enough to be slided over the thicker ends of the stabilizers. The state of the art in practice is to divide the housing of the bearing along an axial plane and to slit the elastic inner bushing lengthwise at one point, the outer surface of the inner bushing being contoured and engaging with a corresponding opposing shape on the inner surface of the two-part housing. When the inner bushing is tightened as the housing is put together, the inner bushing also encompasses the bearing point of the stabilizer, so that here again a firm grip is achieved by friction. The torsion angles of the stabilizer with respect to the housing are compensated for only by molecular deformation of the material of which the inner bushing is made. Because of the high radial stress on such bearings and the torsion angles simultaneously incurred, signs of wear appear early. If the grip of the inner bushing on the stabilizer is insufficient, the stabilizer slips through, causing a great deal of abrasion that shortens the useful life of the inner bushing. If the inner bushing of an elastomer material is freely deformable, that material can issue out of the ends in an uncontrolled manner, causing the bearing to lose functioning capacity quickly and leading to early breakdown. Another undesirable feature with such bearings is the high righting moment that builds up with molecular deformation.